McDonald’s, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota Initiate Brand Sponsorships for Landmark Music E-Commerce Store
Advertising Campaigns Will Focus on User Music Engagement Tied to Brand Awareness
LOS ANGELES – MySpace, the world’s premier social network, today announced that McDonald’s, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota will be the first four integrated sponsors of MySpace Music, the new music joint venture with the world’s largest music labels. These four platinum brands will be powering customers’ access to a host of new music services.
“MySpace Music is our biggest initiative since we launched MySpace itself,” said Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing, MySpace. “With MySpace Music integration, premium brands are offering our users and their customers new ways to discover, experience, and share music online and offline.”
MySpace Music is the first industry-wide music solution that has secured partnerships with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group to create an e-commerce platform based off of the users’ ability to discover, share, and socialize through the medium of music. The upcoming launch of MySpace Music evolves the current music offering by empowering the site’s five million artists to provide fans with an unprecedented suite of social music services including free audio streaming and music e-commerce.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s integration on MySpace Music also includes presence on MySpace Music’s personal music player, which gives users unique tools and applications they can’t find on any other music program. In addition, the company is sponsoring a variety of free song downloads on the site, enhancing users’ music experience and providing them with the opportunity to discover and listen to new artists.
“We’re excited to be a part of this innovative new music platform that allows us to connect with customers in a unique and relevant way,” said Anja Carroll, Marketing Director, McDonald’s USA. “This venture provides customized tools and applications to a large, passionate audience, helping them to discover, download and enjoy the music they love.”
Sony Pictures
Currently, MySpace users can only add one song to their profiles, but once MySpace Music launches, users will be able to create and post full playlists of songs. To promote the opening of Sony Pictures’ comedy “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” the movie studio will be skinning all MySpace Music user’s profile playlists for an entire week with branding from the film. This is an unprecedented MySpace ad campaign whereby all users, upon login, will be automatically presented with a “Nick & Norah” appropriately-themed skinned playlist, creating an opportunity for users to engage with the movie’s MySpace profile page. Sony will also be taking out roadblocks on MySpace Music’s homepage. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist will be in theaters nationwide on October 3, 2008.
State Farm
The insurance company will have a much more overarching brand presence on MySpace Music. With no dominant real estate in one particular area of the site, State Farm will have a rotational presence among all pages including the Featured Playlist, the Personal Music Player, and MyMusic where members go to create and edit playlists.
“State Farm, through our NowWhat.com efforts, has created a strong connection with our younger, more music-savvy audience because of our ability to offer a variety of music programming that caters to diverse crowds,” said Ed Gold, advertising director of State Farm. “MySpace Music will offer an even deeper breadth of artist selections and music genres to create a more impactful relationship with our current and potential customers.”
Toyota
Toyota’s partnership with MySpace Music will help the company engage with music fans across a wide variety of genres. With “Toyota Tuesdays,” the company will offer free music downloads and have a strong presence on MySpace Music’s Personal Music Player every Tuesday for a year. The Personal Music Player, also referred to as the “online jukebox,” is found by popping out any playlist. Toyota will also have a presence on the Featured Playlist page, which helps music fans discover new tunes recommended by their favorite celebrities and artists.
“This unprecedented opportunity lets us engage with a wide array of customers in an authentic way through their music interests and passions,” said Kim McCullough, corporate manager, marketing communications, Toyota.
About MySpace Music
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. MySpace has created a connected global community by integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums. MySpace’s international network includes more than 20 localized community sites in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, and New Zealand. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV).
Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, August 2008. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to www.comscore.com.
